UNARMED VERSES - March 11th: 9:30

March 11th: 9:30  Unarmed Verses
Director Charles Officer    Canada     85 minutes    2017
Documentary, featuring Francine Valentine

Charles Officer's deeply affecting Unarmed Verses — winner of the Best Canadian Feature Documentary prize at Hot Docs — follows Francine Valentine, a sensitive, shy, and fiercely curious adolescent, as she discovers the power of poetry, of music, and of her own voice. Officer spent over a year documenting Francine and her family, and much of his film is devoted to her involvement in a songwriting and recording program run by the grassroots community-building organization Art Starts.

Though clearly gifted, Francine battles both her diffidence and deep-seated insecurities about her identity. (A single, profound shot of her bedroom wall depicts a poster of two girls — European and Asian in appearance — identified through graffiti as "perfect.") Living with her father, elderly grandmother, and brother in a Toronto Community Housing project, Francine is also facing relocation to make way for a new mixed-use development, an index of the city's relentless gentrification and a lack of concern for existing residents. All of this is assembled seamlessly and lyrically by Officer, whose skill is especially evident in his delicate use of sound — as befits his intriguing, young subject.

This feature documentary presents a thoughtful and vivid portrait of a community facing imposed relocation. At the centre of the story is a remarkably astute and luminous 12-year-old black girl whose poignant observations about life, the soul, and the power of art give voice to those rarely heard in society. Unarmed Verses is a cinematic rendering of our universal need for self-expression and belonging.

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MEDITATION PARK - March 11th: 7 pm

 March 11th: 7 pm  Meditation Park
Director: Mina Shum
CANADA, 2017 English, Cantonese, Mandarin w/ English subtitles 94 minutes
Principal Cast: Cheng Pei Pei, Tzi Ma, Sandra Oh, Don McKellar

In Meditation Park, Mina Shum (Ninth Floor, Double Happiness) returns to the themes that propelled her early work. The film opens with Maria (Cheng Pei Pei; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) hosting a birthday celebration for her workaholic accountant husband, Bing (Tzi Ma, Arrival). Maria reveres Bing and remains in awe of the sacrifices he has made for the family, so much so that she even respects his insistence that she not speak to their son after a long-ago slight.

But when she finds evidence that Bing may not be the perfect person she believes him to be, she’s forced to consider her world in a radically different light. Maria embarks on a journey of self-discovery by engaging with the world around her, something Bing has always discouraged. She befriends a group of local eccentrics and a rather shady neighbour, Gabriel (Don McKellar; Window Horses, Trigger). Maria soon realizes that people’s lives are much more complicated than Bing has led her to believe.

Shum exhibits genuine compassion with her insight into the experiences of first-generation immigrant women (including showing how men control their wives by discouraging them from social interaction and learning other languages).

Meditation Park is a charming and generous film, boasting fine performances by its leads and great support by McKellar, Liane Balaban (The Grand Seduction), and the star of Shum’s debut, Double Happiness, the phenomenal Sandra Oh (Window Horses, Blindness), as Maria’s daughter.

“Shum mines her favourite theme — immigrant experience in Canada — in what seems at first to be a gentle slice of life but eventually develops a powerful emotional force.”
– Susan G. Cole, NOW Magazine

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MAISON DU BONHEUR - March 11th: 2 pm

March 11th: 2 pm:  Maison du Bonheur
Director Sofia Bohdanowicz
Canada/France    2017        62 mins
In French with English subtitles
Featuring: Juliane Lumbroso-Sellam, Nadia Cassel, Roberto Cassel, Albert Eddassouki, Manouk Kurdoghlian, Claude Tougard-Lumbroso



Winner of VIFF’s 2016 Emerging Canadian Director award, Sofia Bohdanowicz (Never Eat Alone) returns in form with this lively documentary. Asked to make a film about her friend’s mother, a Parisian astrologer named Juliane, the director sets off for Montmartre and crafts a lovingly made portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the lovely pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years.

Shooting on 16mm with a vibrant colour palette, Bohdanowicz imbues the simplest objects and activities with resonance and meaning. Juliane tells the story of falling for her late husband, and how he taught her how to read astrological charts—in one charming scene she even gives the director a reading—but mostly Bohdanowicz focuses on her subject’s everyday life: how she spends her mornings, where she gets her hair and nails done, what she bakes and cooks and, most importantly, how those rituals connect her to family and tradition. Maison du bonheur is a sensitive look at how the meaning of life hides in plain sight amidst quotidian details, and it serves as a reminder that the way we construct our daily lives can itself be an art.
— Adam Cook

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AVA - March 10th: 9:30

March 10th: 9:30   Ava
Director: Sadaf Foroughi
IRAN/CANADA/QATAR, 2017 Farsi w/ English subtitles 103 minutes
Principal Cast: Mahour Jabbari, Bahar Nouhian, Leili Rashidi, Vahid Aghapour, Shayesteh Sajadi, Houman Hoursan, Sarah Alimoradi

In Tehran, upper-middle-class teen Ava abides by a strict routine of school, violin lessons, and curfew. When Ava’s mistrustful and overprotective mother questions her relationship with a boy — going so far as to consult a gynecologist — Ava is stunned by the outrageous privacy violation. The incident seriously diminishes trust between the girl and her parents and teachers, which in turn bleeds into all spheres of her life. What’s more, the tightly controlled environment around Ava, who is forbidden to date, go out, or pursue her more artistic aspirations, foments feelings of suffocation and isolation. That her parents — including her sympathetic but powerless father — seem more concerned with social optics than their daughter’s welfare only escalates Ava’s rebellious behaviour, triggering serious and life-altering choices.

Sadaf Foroughi vividly renders her lead character’s internal turmoil while exposing the snowball effect of her family’s shaming. Each frame is stunningly composed with scenes offering a searing critique of the cage our protagonist finds herself in, all while creating one of the strongest, most richly developed female leads we’ve seen this year. With Ava, winner of the Discovery Award at TIFF ’17, Foroughi has established herself as a cinematic force.

“Ava’s rebellion is against more than her parents’ mistrust; it’s about the cage of societal norms in Iran that stifles female creativity and self-expression. The clarity with which Foroughi presents the situ- ation makes it easy for international audiences to follow the unfolding drama with its rising stakes.”  –Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter


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THE BREADWINNER - March 10th: 7 pm

March 10th: 7 pm The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
CANADA/IRELAND/LUXEMBOURG, 2017 English 93 minutes
Principal Cast: Saara Chaudry, Laara Sadiq, Shaista Latif

Based on the award-winning, bestselling young adult novel of the same name by Deborah Ellis, The Breadwinner tells the remarkable story of Parvana (Saara Chaudry), a young girl who is forced to become the breadwinner for her family while living under the Taliban regime. Executive-produced by Angelina Jolie and helmed by Irish filmmaker Nora Twomey in her solo directorial debut (co-director on The Secret of Kells; head of story and voice direc- tion on Song of the Sea), The Breadwinner is a rare gem that will captivate both young and mature audiences.

Living in a single room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, 11-year-old Parvana is not allowed to attend school or leave the house without a male chaperone. Her father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — sits on a blanket in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. However, when the Taliban arrests Parvana’s father for having a foreign education, the young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to shop for food and earn money for her family.

Sumptuously rendered with swirling hand-drawn animation that has become the hallmark of Cartoon Saloon, the film captures the colours, sights, and lights of the Afghan city. Featuring a voice cast of largely Afghan, Pakastani, and Indian actors, The Breadwinner is an antidote to the typical Hollywood version of princesses. Instead, it is a timely reminder of the millions of strong young girls and women worldwide who persevere in the face of oppression or conflict.

“The Breadwinner delivers a heart-wrenching coming-of-age tale within a nation that’s lost its way.”
– Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage

THE TRAILER:

NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL - March 10th: 1 pm

March 10th: 1 pm  Never Steady Never Still
Director: Kathleen Hepburn
CANADA, 2017 English 110 minutes
Principal Cast: Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Nicholas Campbell, Lorne Cardinal, Jared Abrahamson, Jonathan Whitesell, Mary Galloway

The highly anticipated feature debut from Kathleen Hepburn, one of Canada’s most promising young filmmakers, Never Steady, Never Still is a devastating examination of the costs of long-term illness on a family. Shirley Henderson (Anna Karenina, Marie Antoinette) delivers a fearless, deeply
moving performance as Judy, a woman who has battled Parkinson’s disease nearly all her married life. As the illness exacts its toll, her husband, Eddie (Nicholas Campbell; Unless, Goon), struggles to care for her — and pushes their son, Jamie (2017 TIFF Rising Star Théodore Pellerin; It’s Only The End of the World, Endorphine), into adulthood, demanding he take a job far from home.

Propelled by a profound sense of empathy and loss, Never Steady heartbreakingly charts the decline in Judy’s health (her increasing difficulty in managing even quotidian tasks) and fiercely, poetically laments what might have been. Judy recounting for her support group the way Eddie proposed marriage may be the most touching thing you’ll see this year.

Hepburn’s compassion shines even in the ancillary characters: pregnant teenage shop clerk Kaly (Mary Galloway, Fire Song) is the soul of generosity while Jamie’s vile and pathetic foreman (Jared Abrahamson, Hello Destroyer) represents the outside world's boundless appetite for cruelty.
The film serves as an affecting reminder that family can mess you up but also stand as the last bastion against a world that is more hostile than might have been hoped, especially for those battling illness.

“The small, exquisite moments hit hard in Hepburn’s feature debut about a family coping with tragedy while living in isolation... Hepburn makes it work because she’s interested in more than the schematics. Each character, and their every exchange, feels lived-in, rich and poetic.”
– Radheyan Simonpillai, NOW Magazine

THE TRAILER:

THE DOCTOR'S CASE - March 9th: 9:30

March 9th: THE DOCTOR'S CASE
Directors: James Douglas, Leonard Pearl
CANADA  65 minutes
Written by: James Douglas [screenplay]; Stephen King [short story]
Starring: William B. Davis, Denise Crosby, Michael Coleman, J.P. Winslow, Ian Case [and a whole host of others!]


WITH SPECIAL GUESTS!


Cinema CNC is proud to present this locally produced film.


The Master of Horror meets the Master Detective. When a diabolical English lord is murdered, Sherlock Holmes and Watson must unexpectedly exchange roles in order to solve 'the perfect locked room mystery.' Based on the short story by Stephen King.

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THE KICKSTARTER PITCH:

 

 

RUMBLE - March 9th: 7 pm

March 9th: 7 pm
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Directors: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana
CANADA, 2017 English 103 minutes
With: Robbie Robertson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Martin Scorsese, George Clinton

Winner of the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the 2017 Hot Docs Film Festival, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World tells the fascinating and largely hidden history of Indigenous influence on, and contribution to, popular music of the last century. Primarily focused on rock ’n’ roll, blues, and jazz, Rumble gets its title from the infamous Link Wray instrumental hit of 1958 — a song so powerful in its musicality and so emotionally resonant that it was banned from radio play despite not having a single lyric.

Interviews from artists such as Robbie Robertson of The Band, Pat Vegas of Redbone, and Buffy Sainte-Marie illuminate how the cultural identity of Native American and Indigenous artists was obscured or deliberately under-reported, as part of a larger postcolonial effort to erase the cultural heritage of First Peoples. Robertson recalls being told as a budding musician to “be proud you’re an Indian, but be careful who you tell.” Connecting the musical histories of jazz, blues, folk, and rock ’n’ roll with the political and social movements that blossomed out of these genres, Rumble deftly displays the ways in which Indigenous artists in North America navigated activism through music, and went on to influence guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Pete Townsend. From Mildred Bailey, jazz singer of the 1930s and a favourite of Tony Bennett, to guitarist Jesse Ed Davis and his influence on The Beatles, to heavy metal drummer Randy Castillo’s iconic rhythms with Black Sabbath, the his- tory of Indigenous artists serves as a history of music itself.

Refusing to shy away from the ways in which Native American and Indigenous artists suffered from institutional racism, political persecution, and the lasting effects of cultural erasure, Rumble points to the incredible innovative spirit of these artists, and how their music served as expressions of frustration, resistance, and celebration — not only for Indigenous communities, but for generations of music lovers who found power through song.

“The influence of Native Americans on nearly a century of popular music is eloquently demon- strated in this engaging documentary.” – Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter


THE TRAILER:

The 22nd Annual Cinema CNC Film Festival